RIVERSIDE: Mayor defends city’s stance on Dorner reward

Riverside Mayor William "Rusty" Bailey is defending the city's position that it won't pay a reward in the Christopher Dorner case because conditions that the suspect be arrested and convicted were not met.

Riverside may not be the only agency to hold back a reward pledged in the Christopher Dorner case, but city officials have come under fire since announcing their decision this week.

The city didnât back out or renege on a promise, and in fact, officials probably couldnât pay the reward now because of conditions they initially placed on it, Riverside Mayor William âRustyâ Bailey said Wednesday, March 27, after taking to social media Tuesday to explain the cityâs position in a letter.

When the City Council agreed in February to offer a $100,000 reward, its action âcalled for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator, and that didnât occur,â Bailey said. âWe were bound by government code to obey the language of our resolution and not give a gift of public funds.â

Dorner, a fired Los Angeles police officer, went on a multi-city rampage that left four people dead before he was cornered in a cabin in the San Bernardino mountains, where he shot himself, police have said.

wmayor.poll

So far, according to news reports, the two parties who have said they deserve the reward are a couple who say Dorner tied them up and stole their car, and a man who said he was carjacked by Dorner. Both parties reported the incidents to police.

Santa Monica attorney Kirk Hallam, who is representing Jim and Karen Reynolds, the Big Bear couple who got tied up and had their car stolen, said he got mixed messages from Baileyâs written statement, but he and his clients âremain hopeful that the mayor and the City Council will reconsider their current position that no one is entitled to the reward.â

The couple deserves the reward because, although Dorner told them not to try to get free or call police, they did both because they feared he would hurt or kill others, Hallam said.

âThat phone call that they made, at great risk to their lives, led directly within 23 minutes to Mr. Dorner being identified driving their purple Nissan, pursued and ultimately surrounded in the cabin where he died,â Hallam said.

dorner.mov

News media reports have said other organizations also are questioning whether to provide promised reward money, in some cases also because of the language used when they agreed to offer a reward, but no specific groups have been named. Riverside appears to be the first to publicly say it wonât pay.

wmayor.doc

The cityâs announcement prompted criticism on social media. Entertainment news website TMZ carried the headline âRiverside city weasels out,â and one commenter on the cityâs Facebook page wrote, âLetâs ask Charlie Sheen to write the $100,000 check. Clearly he has more class.â

Debate also has arisen over the purpose of rewards in criminal cases.

âThe intent of a reward is always to encourage new information from the public that may otherwise not come to the investigation,â Bailey wrote in the letter posted online Tuesday.

Offering a reward in this type of criminal case is like making a contract, and the contract language matters, said Ron Martinelli, a former police officer who is now a Temecula-based law enforcement consultant and expert witness. Martinelli also belongs to the Peace Officers Research Association of California, which pledged a reward in the case but is reportedly still considering whether to grant the money. He also has done work for Riverside.

âCities and organizations donât just arbitrarily throw a reward out there without conditions,â Martinelli said. âEven though (people) did come forward, if their information did not meet the contractual obligations â¦ no matter how well-intended those people are, they donât get a reward.â

Others speculated that Riversideâs decision not to pay could make people less likely to come forward with information in future cases.

As one commenter on the Press-Enterprise Facebook page put it, âNever cry wolf. No one will help the second time around.â

Follow Alicia Robinson on Twitter: @arobinson_pe, or online at http://blog.pe.com/riverside

The IRS annually puts out a “dirty dozen” list of tax scams. The 2015 list focuses on identity thieves, unscrupulous tax preparers and the temptation people may feel to reduce their liability or pad their refunds

Join the conversation

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to allow Freedom Communications, Inc. the right to republish your name and comment in additional Freedom publications without any notification or payment.